THE total amount of Council Tax Harlow residents will pay from April 2014 has been set.

Harlow Council’s share of the Council Tax will increase by 1.49% which is an extra 6 ½p a week for a Band “C” home. There will be no increases in Essex County Council or the Essex Fire Authority’s share. However, the Essex Police and Crime Commissioner will be increasing his share by 1.97%. As a result the overall Council Tax bill for a Band “C” home in Harlow will increase by £5.86 a year.

Harlow Council collects Council Tax on behalf of Essex County Council, Essex Police and Essex Fire Authority but it only keeps £17 of every £100 collected. The rest goes to Essex County Council (£70), the Essex Police & Crime Commissioner (£9) and Essex Fire Authority (£4).

The Council Tax bands in Harlow for 2014/15 will be:

Councillor Mark Wilkinson, Leader of Harlow Council, said: “The money raised by increasing our share of Council Tax by 1.49% will help protect the services we provide especially when the Council was faced with making savings of £1.5m to balance its books for 2014/15. A tough choice but a choice which will protect services this year.

“Although Harlow Council collects Council Tax we only keep a small proportion of the total amount. Out of every £100 of Council Tax collected in Harlow only £17 goes towards services provided by Harlow Council. Seventy per cent of the overall bill goes to Essex County Council. For the average Council Tax payer in Harlow the weekly cost for Harlow Council services is just £4.42. This helps provide services to 81,944 people and funds services like waste and recycling collections, street cleaning, maintenance of parks and open spaces, environmental health, licensing and playgrounds.”